Aspects of the present disclosure provide ultrasound systems and devices that provide for reduction of reverberation artifacts in ultrasound images by automatically changing imaging settings such as PRI or transmit/receive configuration based on detected amounts of reverberation in ultrasound images. In an exemplary embodiment, an apparatus includes a processor circuit in communication with an ultrasound probe. The processor circuit obtains a plurality of ultrasound images obtained using a plurality of different PRIs and/or pulse sequences, calculates an amount of reverberation artifacts in each of the plurality of ultrasound images, selects a pulse repetition interval and/or pulse sequence based on the amounts of reverberation artifacts in each of the plurality of ultrasound images, and controls the ultrasound transducer to obtain a reduced-reverberation ultrasound image using the selected pulse repetition interval or pulse sequence. The reduced-reverberation ultrasound image is then output to a display.
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3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processor circuit is configured to calculate the intensity value for the non-tissue portion of each of the plurality of ultrasound images using a weighting algorithm, such that a first region of a respective ultrasound image near a focal point of the respective ultrasound image is assigned a greater weight than a second region of the respective ultrasound image away from the focal point of the respective ultrasound image.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processor circuit is configured to determine the threshold based on the amount of reverberation artifacts in an ultrasound image of the plurality of ultrasound images associated with a maximum pulse repetition interval of the plurality of pulse repetition intervals.
7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the ultrasound transducer.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein calculating the intensity value for the non-tissue portion of each of the plurality of ultrasound images comprises calculating the intensity value for the non-tissue portion of each of the plurality of ultrasound images using a weighting algorithm, such that a first region of a respective ultrasound image near a focal point of the respective ultrasound image is assigned a greater weight than a second region of the respective ultrasound image away from the focal point of the respective ultrasound image.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising determining the threshold based on the amount of reverberation artifacts in an ultrasound image of the plurality of ultrasound images associated with a maximum pulse repetition interval of the plurality of pulse repetition intervals.
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November 17, 2020
May 21, 2024
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